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Houston Community College Gulfton Campus
Intensive English Program
ESOL 0349 CRN 61584, Advanced Intermediate Conversation, Summer 2011
Gulfton Rm.209, Mon. – Fri.
Instructor: Laurie Donovan Phone: 713) 718 7750 Email: lorraine.donovan@hccs.edu
Office hours and location: Before and after class in Room 209
Course Description:
A continuation of ESOL 0345, this course is designed to further develop conversational skills by
incorporating more complicated vocabulary and grammatical structures. Students are also required
to present oral reports at various times during the semester.
Course Statement of Purpose:
This course seeks to prepare students for college-level academic or workforce classes and
speaking assignments in general by accomplishing the following objectives:
• Students develop their speaking and listening communication skills in different contexts,
including academic, workforce and social situations.
• Students are introduced to the language and culture of academic, workforce and social
situations through the use of in-class presentations, role plays, panel and group
discussions.
• Students develop their listening comprehension and note-taking skills through exposure
to recorded and teacher-generated listening-comprehension materials, which can include
guest speakers.
• Students reinforce their English language skills used in formal situations (such as
academic or workplace presentations or interviews). These skills include:
- Developing topics
- Organizing ideas
- Building complex sentence structure
- Increasing academic- and workforce-appropriate vocabulary
Course Outcomes:
After completing this course, students should be able to:
1. Demonstrate comprehension of a spoken passage of unsimplified English at the level of a
middle-school speaker on topics ranging from social to workforce to academic.
2. Demonstrate facility comprehending and using level-appropriate vocabulary.
3. Produce comprehensible speech which is accurate enough to be comprehended with
effort by those unaccustomed to interacting with non-native English speakers.
4. Make a presentation on a researched topic.
5. Identify key points of a spoken lecture appropriate to native-speaking middle-school
students, using notes taken.
Learning Objectives leading to the Course Outcomes above:
1.1 Summarize the main idea of a conversation or presentation about an academic or
workplace topic;
1.2 Demonstrate understanding of the specific details of this discourse.
2.1 Define significant academic or workforce-related vocabulary;
2.2 Use this vocabulary to produce appropriate responses in conversations related to
academic or workforce-related topics.
3.1 Produce spoken discourse with relatively few errors in pronouncing the English sounds;
3.2 Produce sentences with accurate stress and intonation patterns.
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
Select a topic that is of interest both to the student and to the class;
Carry out basic research on this topic;
Prepare audio-visual support for the presentation, as appropriate;
Deliver the presentation, of 4-6 minutes, before the class, and answer questions as
needed.
5.1 Outline the content of an oral academic presentation;
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5.2 Explain the main ideas and important details of the presentation, using notes taken as the
source of information.
16-Week Calendar, subject to revision as needed:
. NOTE: This schedule is flexible based on
Week 1
dictation
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
presentation
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
time devoted to each chapter.
Intros and orientation to the course; Unit 2 Global English;
Continue Unit 2; Unit 2 Quiz; choose topic for first presentation
First presentation 4-5 minutes; dictation
Non-Stop Discussion; Unit 3 Phobias; choose topic for second
Continue Unit 3; Unit 3 Quiz; extemporaneous speech
Second presentation 5-6 minutes; dictation; group discussion
Scruples; dictation; To Tell the Truth
Unit 4 Owning a Successful Restaurant;
Unit 4 Quiz
Final Exam Week
Student requirements and assignments:
• Good attendance, on time
• Turn off cell phones in the classroom
• Complete all homework and classwork, including lab assignments
• Give two oral presentations
• Complete three listening examinations
Grading:
Activities and participation
Listening quizzes and exams
Oral presentations
Final examination
Up to 4 points
20%
60%
20%
Total
100%
Instructional Materials:
Contemporary Topics 2 Second Edition
HCC Policies:
Services to students with disabilities: Students with a learning or physical disability which
might affect their performance in class should contact the HCCS disabilities counselor, Dr.
Becky Hauri, at (713) 718-7781.
Academic dishonesty: Any form of copying, cheating, or plagiarism will result in a grade of 0 for
the assignment. The instructor will decide whether to permit you to make up the work, and
under what circumstances it might be made up. If you are charged with academic dishonesty,
pleading ignorance of the rules will not help you. Penalties and/or disciplinary proceedings may
be initiated by HCC officials against a student who is accused of scholastic dishonesty.
“Scholastic dishonesty” includes, but is not limited to, cheating on a test, plagiarism, and
collusion.
Cheating on a test includes:
 Copying from another students’ test paper;
 Using materials not authorized by the person giving the test;
 Collaborating with another student during a test without authorization;
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
Knowingly using, buying, selling, stealing, transporting, or soliciting in whole or part the
contents of a test that has not been administered;
 Bribing another person to obtain a test that is to be administered.
Plagiarism means the appropriation of another’s work and the unacknowledged incorporation of
that work in one’s own written work offered for credit.
Collusion means the unauthorized collaboration with another person in preparing written work
offered for credit. Possible punishments for academic dishonesty may include a grade of 0 or F in
the particular assignment, failure in the course, and/or recommendation for probation or dismissal
from the College System.
See the HCCS Student Handbook for further information.
Attendance: No absences are excused, and anyone who misses more than ten hours of class
(including lab) may be dropped from the class, and if so, will be dropped from all of the Intensive
English classes you are taking this semester. This can have serious consequences for F1
students. Please let your instructor know (in advance, if possible) if you have to be absent.
When absent, you are responsible for finding out what you missed and for asking permission to
make up the work.
Tardiness: Classes begin promptly at the specified times, and 3 instances of tardiness of 10
minutes or more (arrival of first class or lab, returning from break and/or from lunch, or leaving
class for extended periods) will count as a class absence
.
Withdrawals: The last day students can withdraw or be dropped from a class with a grade of “W”
is July 26, 2011 at 4:30 p.m. If you decide to drop, you must contact an advisor or your
professor for approval, and this must be done prior to the drop deadline of July 26. .Students
who have excessive absences after that date will receive the grade that they earn.
Three-repeater policy: Students taking a course for the 3rd time must pay additional tuition.
Classroom behavior: No student is permitted to behave in a way that prevents the instructor
from teaching or that interferes with other students’ learning. Any student who behaves in this
way may be required to leave the classroom and be absent for the rest of the day. If such
behavior continues, the student may be referred to the Dean of Student Services for further
disciplinary action.
Cell phones and pagers: Such devices must be turned off in the classroom. Use of such devices
in the classroom will lead to the student’s being asked to leave them on the instructor’s desk or
to leave the room and be absent for the rest of the day. If such behavior continues, the student
may be referred to the Dean of Student Services for further disciplinary action.
Missed tests, presentations, quizzes: Please do not be absent on testing days. Only one quiz
may be made up. Only one presentation can be made up. If you miss classwork, you cannot
receive full credit for making it up.
Grades: Some of your work will receive “letter grades”; some will receive percentage grades. It
means this:
A = 90-100% = Excellent work
B = 80-89% = Good work
C = 70-79% = OK work (not good, not bad)
D = 60=69% = Not passing
F = Below 60% = Not passing
At the end of the semester, your grade for the course will be one of these:
A = Excellent
B = Good
C = OK
IP = Good effort, but not passing
F = Poor effort and poor work, and not passing
Tutoring is available from 1:30-2:30 TWTh in Gulfton Center 121; 9-11:00 F in Gulfton 111.
Sexual harassment policy: Sexual harassment is not tolerated in any form at Houston
Community College. See the HCCS Student Handbook for further information.
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